Rossputin.com: Rational Thinking About Our World

Although Tuesday's "Potomac Primaries" aren't the biggest contests this primary season, the resounding wins by John McCain in DC and Maryland, and his 10-point victory in Virginia, a state which Mike Huckabee had hoped to make competitive, were reminiscent of a car with a good head of steam running into a wall.

The losses emphasize something that Huckabee supporters continue to try to deny: Huckabee is really only popular with evangelical Christians, of whom there are not enough to win an election. Other modest support comes from people who consider John McCain not conservative enough, but that support has to fade as people really look at Huckabee who has not governed particularly conservatively outside of social issues. Although he's talking a good game now, I see Huckabee as a "squish" who would like to impose a Christian version of Sharia on the nation.

While I still haven't been able to convince myself to support John McCain despite some good arguments by conservatives, I'd take McCain over Huckabee in a heartbeat. It's about time that more of the nation realizes that Huckabee does not represent the greatness of America any more than Hillary Clinton does.

He has the best handle on the media of any candidate, not surprising for a preacher who has been a radio and television personality. He gives nearly flawless interviews, which include a great job of avoiding answering many questions. The one place where he tries to be particularly conservative outside of social issues is by supporting the "Fair Tax", to replace the income tax with a national sales tax and eliminate the IRS. The problem is, based on my research, the "Fair Tax" tax rate would have to be much higher than its proponents claim in order to be revenue neutral. It also would turn almost everybody into collection agents for the government. It would almost certainly not eliminate the IRS because someone would still have to administer the tax collection. And most frighteningly it would leave room for Congress to re-instate an income tax and put us in a position like people in Western Europe, most of whom pay high income tax rates as well as national sales tax rates in the high-teens or even twenties.

In any case, I hope that Tuesday's results in the fairly mainstream states of Maryland and Virginia show Huckabee's success so for as some combination of a fluke (due to the GOP not having any good candidate left), of excess influence of the religious right in GOP primaries, especially in Iowa, and of a temporary brain cramp by voters seduced by Huckabee's smooth talk...much as voters on the left are being seduced by Barack Obama.